


Hold On, We’re Going Home

by the_savage_daughter_0627



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Badass Katara (Avatar), F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Hook-Up, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender, Long Shot, Minor Mai/Zuko, My First Smut, One Night Stands, One Shot, Past Jet/Katara (Avatar), Shameless Smut, Smut, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:54:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26238919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_savage_daughter_0627/pseuds/the_savage_daughter_0627
Summary: Zuko ends up at a bar after his fiancée, Mai, breaks up with him. His whole night changes when he meets Katara. Turns out, they won’t be going home alone tonight after all.
Relationships: zuko and katara - Relationship
Comments: 12
Kudos: 85





	Hold On, We’re Going Home

**Author's Note:**

> Standard disclaimer: I don’t own avatar or it’s characters. 
> 
> All characters have been aged up (Zuko is 26, Katara is 24).
> 
> The title of this piece is a Drake song, but the story itself is inspired by Luke Bryan’s song “Home Alone Tonight”
> 
> Special thanks to my beta, FireLadyFae/LadyFaePhillips for her work on this piece.

Zuko throws back his fourth shot of whiskey and squeezes his eyes shut against the burn of the alcohol. He sets the shot glass down and stares at the scratched wooden surface of the bar counter. His fingers trace the grooves in a wobbly line as he thinks about what he wants to do next. He knows, first of all, that he wants another shot.

He didn’t expect to end up here, in some dive bar on the far side of town. Really, he didn’t know where he was going when he slid behind the wheel of his car an hour ago and put it in drive. He just knew he needed to get _away_. The restlessness that was always with him, just beneath the surface, had demanded it. 

That restlessness was part of why he was here. And no, not in this bar. _Here_ , drinking away his anger and frustration and regret. He and his fiancée had broken up. Again. But this time it was different. It seemed like this time, Mai meant it. And he knew it led back to his job, which demanded frequent travel. He _loves_ it. But Mai hates it. 

It didn’t matter that this job had paid for her brand new car or the condo they had bought together last year. Or the very expensive diamond ring that she had thrown at him before she walked out, the one his sister and Ty Lee had insisted Mai would love, which she had just seemed impassive about.

But that was Mai. She was impassive about _everything._

Zuko holds up the shot glass to flag down the bartender. “Let me get another.”

The bartender nods and goes to pour him another shot. At the rate he’s going, Zuko is going to have to call a cab to get him home. Maybe he ought to get the bar’s address before he gets too hammered and forgets—

Someone slides onto the barstool one over from him, someone who smells like jasmine and orange, and Zuko forgets what he was thinking. He looks up into a pair of ocean-blue eyes and his breath catches in his throat. 

_Oh spirits,_ he thinks as he takes in the mocha-colored skin, the chocolate hair that falls to her slender waist, the dark jeans covering her long, shapely legs, the little black top that reveals _just_ enough of her breasts to catch someone’s attention, and her full lips, painted red. _This girl is gorgeous._

She flags the bartender down with a wave of her hand—which is dainty and long-fingered, and manicured with ice-blue nails that he thinks he wouldn’t mind seeing dig into his shoulders—and then she’s looking over at him again, a smile curving her mouth. 

“How’s it going?” she drawls casually. He sees her eyes run over him, and apparently she likes what she sees because the smile deepens. 

Zuko blinks stupidly. He’s not sure if it’s the booze that’s making his brain short-circuit or her smile. But somehow he manages to open his mouth and form a semi-sensible response. 

“It’s going,” he says lamely, and he mentally face-palms himself. But he recovers. “How are you doing?”

“I am doing just fine,” she says in a way that tells him she’s not. Her smile twists into something of a grimace as she looks over the bar counter at the bottles of alcohol lined up on the shelf. “And by that, I mean I just returned from a trip to find my boyfriend in bed with some other girl, so I am here to drink myself into oblivion.” She peers over at him. “You?”

Zuko processes what she said rather quickly. Really, it wasn’t all that different from what he was doing here. “My fiancée and I just broke up.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” the girl says, and she sounds sincere enough. Then the corner of her mouth quirks up. “Well, since we’re both here to drink our sorrows away, why don’t we do it together?”

His answering smile is confident and smooth, as is his answer. “Sounds good to me. What are you drinking?”

“I think I’ll start with a shot of whiskey and see where I go from there.” With that, she slides over onto the stool next to him. 

Zuko gapes at her; he can’t help it. He thinks he _might_ have just fallen in love. A girl who drinks whiskey? Mai would _never_. She was a cocktails kind of girly; classy and refined. The worst he had seen her drink was a Long Island Iced Tea. She would never take shots with him.

He realizes he’s still staring, and he manages to peel his jaw off the floor and flash her what he hopes is a charming smile. “Well, I’m already four shots deep so you might have a hard time catching up to me.” He’s been out of this game for too long—not that he was ever really in it to begin with—and he hopes he doesn’t make a fool out of himself in front of this beautiful woman.

“Are you challenging me?” Her eyes glitter mischievously and his heart thumps harder in his chest. She leans forward on one arm and grins viciously. “Challenge accepted.”

The bartender finally comes back with Zuko’s shot. But before he can grab it, the girl snatches it and throws it back without pulling a face at all. He watches her throat bob as she swallows the alcohol without so much as a twitch, and it sends a sliver of heat directly to his groin. 

She sets the glass down on the table and looks at him with a playful smirk. “One down, three more to go.”

The bartender looks between the two of them. “So...would you guys like another round?” he asks.

“Yes, please!” The girl rests her forearms on the bar and beams a smile at the bartender. “Keep ’em coming!”

Zuko chuckles, and her gaze falls on him. He rests one elbow on the bar and leans his head against his fisted hand. “Just how drunk do you plan on getting?”

“If you think I was kidding about drinking myself into oblivion, you’ve got another thing coming.” She peers up at him from beneath her thick eyelashes. “I’m Katara, by the way.”

“Zuko.” 

The bartender comes back with two more shots. Their hands brush as they both reach for their glasses, and they exchange a look and a smile. Zuko wonders what her intentions were when she sat down beside him. If she was looking for a hook-up, he’d be happy to oblige. Did girls do that sort of thing? Weren’t they normally wary of guys in bars? But _she_ had sat down by him, and _she_ had started speaking to him, not the other way around. So maybe this girl was looking for a one-night stand. And maybe he was looking for one, too. 

How long had he been tied down with Mai? Since he was seventeen. He’s twenty six now and not getting any younger. He had spent his college years getting his degree in business administration, working hard to graduate a year early and get into his father’s good graces. Zuko hadn’t lived the ‘college experience’: parties and girls and experimenting. He had been a good old stick in the mud, with Mai beside him, while his sister—the _prodigy_ —was doing body shots off of Ty Lee and hooking up with frat guys every weekend. But even with her party-girl lifestyle, Azula had still graduated just a year after he did, and she was still their father’s favorite.

It’s why Zuko had jumped at the opportunity to fly around the world to meet with suppliers, business partners, and potential clients. He’s good at the job, and it gets him away from his family. Mai had even encouraged it at one point, but when she realized how often he would be gone, she had started to nag him and pick fights and generally make their time together miserable, which had only driven Zuko further away. He had started to look forward to those business trips. Whether she had done it intentionally or not, he doesn’t know. 

But what he does know is that he doesn’t feel nearly as bad about the split as he thought he would. He’s angry, yes, but he thinks that maybe he’s mostly angry with himself for letting the relationship drag out for as long as he did. He should have ended it months ago. Zuko had sensed the end was coming after his last trip. She had barely argued with him. In fact, Mai had barely spoken to him at all. And when he’d left again, she only texted him when he texted her first. The chasm between them had been growing for a while, but somewhere between Fire Fountain City and Gaoling, it had split open to a distance that he couldn’t quite cross. 

And really, he’s okay with that.

Zuko takes his fifth shot and almost succeeds at keeping his face blank, but the final drop of alcohol sliding down his throat has him grimacing. Katara takes her second shot as easily as she did the first, and he wonders how she can do that. 

He plays it off. “So, where did you go on your trip?”

“The Northern Air Temple.” Katara is looking at the bottles on the shelf again, but she smiles. “It was beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“It _is_ beautiful,” Zuko agrees. She looks over at him, surprised, and the corner of his lips tug up into a smile. “I travel a lot for work. You?”

Katara shakes her head. “No. I actually haven’t travelled all that much. But I recently came into some money so I decided to use my vacation time to go on this trip. My _boyfriend_ —” She scoffs and rolls her eyes over the word. “—was supposed to go with me, but he bailed at the last minute. I was dumb enough to believe that ‘something came up’ at his job.” Katara tilts her head to the side, causing her wavy hair to fall across her shoulder like a curtain. The ends brush along her thigh and Zuko is momentarily captivated by the sight. “I would bet money that the jerk has been seeing this chick behind my back for a while now.”

“I’m sorry,” Zuko says, and he means it. Katara seems like a laid-back, fun person. He couldn’t imagine someone being unhappy enough with her to cheat on her. 

“And I mean, I’ve been so busy with work that I probably didn’t even notice.” She shakes her head. “Which just makes me feel like an even bigger idiot.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault.” Zuko leans toward her and almost reaches out to touch her before he catches himself. “Whoever your ex is, he’s a piece of trash and you deserve better.”

Her eyes widen for a moment and she just stares at him. Heat creeps into his cheeks and he wonders if he’s said too much. But then she smiles. He can see that it’s a little strained, but he thinks it’s because of what happened with her ex, not what he said.

“Thanks.” She sounds a little breathless. She appraises him. “What’s your story? What happened with the fiancée?”

Zuko leans back on his bar stool as his mouth twists into a scowl. He huffs out a breath that sounds only a little bitter. “It was a long time coming, honestly.” He shrugs. “I think we were both just too comfortable with the routine to do anything about it.”

Katara nods slowly. “How long were you guys together?”

“Nine years,” Zuko replies. He shakes his head. It feels like it wasn’t that long; it feels like it was much longer. 

“High school sweethearts?”

Zuko’s mouth contorts as he thinks back to the beginning of his and Mai’s relationship. Azula had pushed them to get together. She had practically threatened him to ask Mai to their senior prom. He had been surprised when Mai had said yes...and then elated when she asked him to be her boyfriend at the end of the night. And after a few months Zuko had realized that his dad and her dad had signed a contract for their companies. He had never had the nerve to ask Mai about it, and she had never said anything. 

Mai was his first—and only—serious girlfriend. Even if he had been reluctant to ask her out at first, it had mostly been because of his own insecurity, and not anything to do with Mai. No, she was pretty and smart. Out of his league, or so he had thought. The birthmark that scars the left side of his face had always made him self-conscious, especially as a hormone-riddled boy in high school. Girls never really talked to him, and he’d been too shy to really try. So when Mai had shown an interest and Azula had started pushing it...he had caved. And he had been too afraid to leave, in case he never had anything like it again.

He studies Katara for a brief moment. She’s even more gorgeous than Mai, and yet she’s talking to _him_ . In fact, he hasn’t seen her stare at his birthmark once. She’s not actively avoiding looking at it, either. Rather, when she looks at him, she looks at _all_ of him, instead of gawking at the mark or avoiding it altogether. He doesn’t quite know what to make of that.

He finally answers her. “Something like that.” He drums his fingers on the countertop. The bartender is making his way back down to them, but he’s not quite ready for another shot. He’s feeling the burn in his belly and the buzz in his head, and he knows that when he stands up, the room is going to spin. And she’s only two shots in compared to his five shots. She needs to catch up. “How long were you and your ex together?”

“We met in college,” Katara answers. She lets out a sharp laugh. “He was this hardcore rockstar guy, a rebel-without-a-cause, and I was just some girl from the South Pole who had spent her whole life pleasing everyone else and never making a fuss. He was charismatic...and completely full of it.” She peers over at Zuko, a sheepish smile on her lips. “And of course, by the time I realized that, I was head over heels for him. Now that I think about it, I don’t think he ever felt the same way about me.”

The bartender finally reaches them. He refills Katara’s shot glass, but when he moves to Zuko’s, Zuko covers it with his hand and shakes his head. He sees Katara’s amused smile from the corner of his eye.

“You aren’t quitting on me already, are you?” she teases.

He leers at her, a lopsided, slightly-drunk smile playing on his lips. “I’m already five shots deep, remember? I think you need to get on my level.”

She wiggles her eyebrows at him. “Fine.” She takes the shot and then holds her glass out to the bartender. “Hit me.” The bartender complies, and she downs it. When Katara looks at Zuko again, her pupils are starting to dilate and she sways a bit on her stool. “There. One more and I’m caught up.” Zuko uncovers his glass and the bartender fills it before pouring more whiskey into Katara’s shot glass again. This time Katara doesn’t drink it right away. Instead she appraises the amber-colored liquid as she purses her lips. She holds out her glass and Zuko clinks his against it. “Good riddance to bad exes, am I right?”

Zuko chuckles. Every time she talks, Zuko likes her a little more. “You’re absolutely right.”

“You’re dang right I’m right.” She takes the fifth shot and for the first time, he sees her lips twitch against the taste of the alcohol. Katara sets the glass down and looks over at him. “So Zuko with the ex fiancée, what do you do for a living that has you travelling to places like the Northern Air Temple?”

“I’m usually meeting with potential clients or suppliers,” Zuko answers with a shrug. “My company develops, manufactures, and sells medical supplies.”

Katara arches a brow and leans closer to him. “Oh? What company is it?”

Zuko considers her for a moment, his brow furrowing. “SozMed,” he replies after a beat. She nods her head with a small “ah”. He asks her a question. “What do you do?”

“I’m a neonatal nurse,” Katara replies, pride tingeing her tone. A grin spreads over her face. “I _was_ going to be a doctor, but I changed my mind. The medical field is more desperate for nurses than it is for doctors, and that was a _lot_ of med school. And, it’s really expensive.”

Zuko opens his mouth to say something, but just then Katara’s mouth pops open into an ‘O’ that is far more attractive than it has any right to be, before her lips curve into a grin. “This is seriously my _favorite_ song right now.” She surprises him by grabbing his hand and sliding off her stool. “Dance with me.”

“Um, I’m not really good at dancing—” 

“I’ve got you covered.”

Then she’s pulling him off his stool and toward the dancefloor, which is crowded with other people dancing to some upbeat pop song he doesn’t recognize. He’s right about the room spinning when he stood up, but her hand anchors him and he manages to stay upright. Then her back is to him and her backside is pressed against his crotch and Zuko suddenly doesn’t really care that he’s not a great dancer.

His hands find her hips and she sways and grinds against him. Her hands climb up and run through her hair, exposing the supple curve of her neck. Zuko stares at it for a moment, wondering why he has the strong desire to run his lips along that tan expanse of skin to see if she tastes as good as she smells.

The room spins slightly again and the alcohol burn in his stomach is replaced by a different sort of heat, one that pools deep into his lower belly as all of his blood rushes downward. Katara tilts her head to one side as she continues to dance against him, giving him better access to her neck.

Zuko takes the hint. He slides one hand up from her hip and around to her toned stomach, pulling her flush against him as he grinds his hips against her. When his lips find her neck he hears her sharp intake of breath, and he grins against her skin.

He nips at her throat and makes his way to her ear. For the first time he notices the diamond stud there, small and delicate. When his teeth graze her earlobe, she moans, a deeply erotic sound in the back of her throat that has chills running through him and his cock twitching. One of her hands falls on his and she digs her fingers into his wrist, pushing even deeper back against him in a way that has _him_ growling now. 

_Forget Mai,_ he thinks as Katara continues to grind against him. He suddenly thinks their split is the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

Then the song comes to an end. For a moment they stand there, hearts beating hard and their breathing harsh. She still has her hand on his, and suddenly Katara locks their fingers together and pulls him back to the barstools they abandoned.

“Let’s take another shot,” Katara says as she throws a smile at him over her shoulder. Her cheeks are bright pink and her eyes almost glow under the dim lights. Zuko thinks he’s never seen anyone so gorgeous.

She slides onto the stool with a grace that defies the amount of alcohol in her system, and Zuko clumsily drops onto his seat, his head still spinning from their dance as his blood flows back to the rest of his limbs. 

“You finally caught up to me,” Zuko remarks with a lopsided grin.

“That I did.” She flashes him her white-toothed smile. “Those other shots are starting to get to my head.”

“You said we’d go shot for shot. Are you giving up?” Zuko eyes her with an amused arch of his eyebrow. “I didn’t take you for a quitter.”

Katara narrows her eyes at him for a moment, her lips pursed in a way that has his stomach coiling tightly. Then she turns away and flags down the bartender again.

Zuko chuckles. It’s not that he’s trying to get her drunk. Clearly, Katara is willing to talk to him and maybe even go home with him without the assistance of booze. But he’s still trying to convince himself that she’s real, and that she’s actually talking to him, and that there’s a good possibility he’ll be taking her home tonight. It feels like a dream. The alcohol has his head buzzing, but it’s her eyes that has his heart thrumming in his chest. 

The bartender comes back and Katara orders another shot. She glances back over at him. “What do you say, hot shot? You want another?”

Zuko’s eyes flicker from Katara to his empty shot glass. A new thought crosses his mind: what if he gets too drunk that he can’t get it up? He’s had that issue once or twice before, after a night of heavy drinking. Mai had actually _laughed_ at him. Zuko feels a blush come into his cheeks at the memory. No, he won’t let that happen. There is no way in hell he's going to get this girl home just to suffer from whiskey dick. Nope.

“Next round,” Zuko says with faux confidence. 

“If you say so.” She winks at him and then tips the shot down her throat. 

Katara sets the glass down with exaggerated care, and Zuko wonders how drunk she is. She might weigh a hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet, so the alcohol is probably hitting her harder than it had hit him. And he’d eaten dinner with Mai not long before he came here. Who knows if Katara has eaten? 

“Is she pretty?” Katara asks suddenly.

Zuko frowns, confused. “Who?”

“Your ex, silly.” Katara laughs, and the sound is a melody. 

Zuko flushes. “Oh. Um, I guess.” That’s an odd question, and Zuko doesn’t know what to make of it. 

“Do you have a picture of her?”

His frown deepens. _What is she getting at?_ Zuko wonders. “Uh, yeah. Hold on.” 

He pulls his phone out of his back pocket. The lock screen is a picture of him and Mai on Kyoshi Island a few months ago. She’s not smiling, not really, but then again, Mai hardly ever smiles. He shows Katara the picture. She leans in close, eyes squinted drunkenly as she observes the photo.

“That’s Kyoshi, right?”

“Yeah.”

“My brother’s wife is from there.” Katara leans back and looks at him. “She _is_ pretty, but you can do better. It’s probably better you guys split.” 

Zuko blinks. “Looks aren’t everything.” He thinks of himself, with his birthmark. 

“You’re right.” Katara shrugs her shoulders. Then she’s pulling out her own phone and tapping away at the screen. When she holds it up, she’s showing him a selfie of her and a guy with unruly brown hair and a cocky smile. “That’s my ex. Gorgeous, but a total jerk.” 

Zuko snorts in agreement. He’s not one to typically judge a book by its cover, but the look of her ex screams arrogance and trouble. He studies her again as she sets her phone down on the bar and wonders what she might have seen in the guy.

Then Katara is looking at him again. This time there’s a hunger in her eyes. Zuko knows that look, and seeing it on her has his blood rushing down to his groin all over again. 

His mind flashes to his condo in the high rise building in the Upper Ring. They would have to take a taxi there since both of them were too drunk to drive. He’s suddenly grateful for the maid service that Mai made him pay for. The condo is spotless, and he knows he’s got condoms in the bedroom—even though Mai was on birth control, she didn’t want to take any chances. And if the steady pulse in his pants is any indication, he definitely wants to take this woman home and bang her senseless.

Katara leans closer to him, her eyes never leaving him. Zuko finds himself leaning toward her as well, drinking in the smell of jasmine, orange, and whiskey. Katara stops, inches away from his face, so close he can see the flecks of white and deeper blue in her eyes.

“Take another shot with me,” she breathes, the corners of her lips quirking up.

He’s drunk on her scent alone, he thinks, but he finds himself nodding in agreement. This time he’s the one flagging down the bartender.

They take their shots. Zuko barely tastes the alcohol this time, and as soon as he sets his glass down, Katara has her hand on his arm and she’s leaning close to him again, her lips practically on his unmarked ear.

“Take me home.” Her breath is warm against his skin and gooseflesh crawls down his neck.

She doesn’t need to tell him twice.

Zuko glances over at her. He can see her nervousness in the slightly downturned corners of her mouth and the set of her eyebrows. _She thinks I’m not interested,_ Zuko realizes. How can she even think that? Was he not being clear enough? Or is she just that uncertain of herself? Either way, he wants to reassure her that he is most definitely interested.

Zuko offers her what he hopes is a reassuring smile. Then he places a hand on the back of her head and pulls her into a kiss that tastes like whiskey. Before he knows it, he’s standing in between her knees and her arms are around his neck. 

Could she be as interested as he is? The passion behind her kiss tells him yes, but he has to ask.

He pulls away and she slowly opens her eyes, her lips curling into a satisfied smile. 

“Are you sure about this?” Zuko asks as he sinks back onto his own stool. “I’d hate for you to think I’d taken advantage of you in the morning.”

“You’re a gentleman.” Her eyes twinkle playfully, but then she grows more serious. “Yes, I’m sure. I think, given what we’ve _both_ been through, it’ll be nice.” She pauses. “Unless you don’t want to—”

He stops her with a quick shake of his head. “No, no, that’s not it at all. I just wanted to be sure...here, let me get the bill.”

Zuko pulls out his wallet and grabs his credit card. The bartender comes and takes the card. Zuko's knee bounces with nervous energy as he impatiently waits for the bartender to bring it back. He glances over at Katara. She’s tapping her fingers on the counter.

“I should probably call a cab, huh?” Zuko realizes with an embarrassed smile.

Katara smiles back as she reaches for her phone. “I’ll order an Uber.”   
  


* * *

  
Thirty minutes later they’re spilling out of the elevator and onto the tenth floor, a mess of sloppy kisses and groping hands. Impatiently, Zuko scoops her up and wraps her legs around his waist as he starts down the hallway toward his apartment. Katara locks her ankles behind his back and wraps her arms around his neck as she trails damp kisses down his jaw that make him feel light-headed. 

Zuko fumbles his keys and nearly drops them, but then he’s finally opening the door to his apartment and carrying her inside. 

They don’t make it far: he hits the light and presses her against the wall inside the foyer, pinning her there with his hips, as he kicks the door closed. He cups her bottom in his hands, squeezing and rubbing experimentally. His mouth finds her pulse and he laps at it greedily, smiling against her skin when he hears her soft moans of pleasure. Zuko runs one hand over her hip and up her shirt, across the smooth skin of her stomach and to the lace cup of her bra. He slips his hand towards her back and Katara arches off the wall just enough to give him access to the clasps. He unhooks her bra with one hand and gives himself a mental pat on the back for his suaveness. 

But he’s not going to bang her right there in the foyer. No, he thinks Katara deserves more than that. She is a goddess, and so unlike any woman he’s seen before, and he wants to treat her like one. Zuko is going to take his time with her, teasing and exploring until she’s ready to explode before he’ll finally allow himself to succumb to her intoxicating beauty. 

So he peels her off the wall and starts for the bedroom, planting a bruising kiss on her lips. He knows the condo well and even in his inebriated state, he doesn’t bump into anything. He wraps one arm around her waist so he can push open the bedroom door, and then they’re tumbling onto the bed with him on top of her. 

Katara reaches for the hem of his shirt and Zuko allows her to yank it off over his head, letting it fall to the floor. Her hands skim the planes of his sculpted chest and trail over his abs. She seems to enjoy the view. She smiled ferally and hooks her fingers into the belt loops of his jeans to tug him closer. She stretches up to meet him in a searing kiss, mouths open and tongues exploring. She tastes like whiskey and desire, and Zuko knows he probably tastes the same.

Zuko’s hands roam her body, feeling the curves of her hips and the dips of her ribs until he cups both breasts in his hands over her shirt, giving them an experimental squeeze. Katara bucks her hips against him and he groans against the much-needed friction. It seems whiskey dick won’t be an issue for him tonight, not if the bulge straining against his pants is any indication. 

He pulls her shirt up over her chest and Katara leans up on her elbows to help him pull it off the rest of the way. Her unhooked bra follows, and he takes a moment to drink in the sight of her bare breasts: round and perky, with dark nipples already hard with arousal. He captures one in his mouth, rolling his tongue over the sensitive bud while he teases the other with his hand. He grips her hip with his free hand, pulling her flush against him as he thrusts against her. Her fingernails graze his shoulders and burrow into his hair, tugging hard with every moan he draws from her lips. 

He trails his fingers over her smooth stomach and pops the button on her jeans. He slides the zipper down and brushes his fingers across the silky material of her panties before he pushes inside her jeans. She’s damp and hot, and Zuko rubs her over her panties. Katara’s hips buck and she cries out as he does, and then he releases her nipple with a _pop_. Zuko presses his mouth to hers as he pushes aside her panties and slips his fingers into her wet center. She jerks under him, her breath catching in her throat as her nails rake down his back. 

The sensation causes him to growl, and he pumps his hand slowly, curling his fingers and rubbing at her walls as he tries to find that perfect spot. He knows he’s found it when she moans out something that sounds like his name, and he massages her, building up speed until she’s writhing underneath him. 

Katara is driving him crazy. Of all the times he and Mai were together, she _never_ responded to him the way Katara was. He finds himself wondering what other sounds he could get her to make.

Katara presses her lips to his throat, her teeth grazing along his skin, and he hisses between his teeth as his cock hardens even more. Her mouth follows the line of his neck to his shoulder, nipping and suckling until his head is spinning.

With a desperate moan, he withdraws his fingers and hooks them into the waistband of her jeans to yank them over her hips. Katara arches off the bed, and he slides them over her rear and off her legs, throwing them in a pile on the floor. He cups her hips in his hands and pushes her further onto the bed.

Zuko stays upright for a moment to take her in. The lights aren’t on in the bedroom, but the curtains over the window are open, and she’s bathed in moonlight and she’s so beautiful that Zuko can’t believe she came home with _him,_ with his total lack of confidence and birthmark. 

“Spirits, you’re gorgeous,” Zuko manages to say. His words are only a little slurred from the alcohol.

Katara blushes as she sits upright and reaches for the button on his jeans. “You’re pretty hot yourself, handsome,” she murmurs, her lips tugging up into a coy smile. 

His heart thunders in his chest and his blood is pulsing hotly in his veins and all he can think is, _does she really believe that? She has to. She’s here with me and oh spirits—_ Coherent thought leaves him as he watches her manicured fingers slide his zipper down before she lowers his jeans so she could slide her hand into his boxers.

Her hand wraps around him and feels down his length, offering a few tugs and squeezes along the way. Zuko can’t suppress the shudder that runs through him. 

“Spirits,” he grits out. 

She grips him more firmly, bolstered by his reaction to her. He marvels at the way he fills her hand.

He runs his hands through her hair and down her back while she continues to stroke him. Zuko slips one hand between her legs and finds the sensitive bud at the apex of her thighs. She startles under his touch, a sharp exhale leaving her as he rubs the hard bud. The faster he goes, the more fervent she becomes as she strokes him, until Zuko can feel the pressure building up in his groin. 

With a growl, he pulls his hand away and pushes her back onto the bed. Katara releases him and he exhales a breath of relief. He might not have whiskey dick, but his sex life with Mai has been nonexistent for months now, and he doesn’t have the control he once did. He feels like a high school boy reaching third base all over again.

Zuko reaches for the drawer of the bedside table and pulls out a condom. When he looks back at Katara, she’s laying on her back, her feet braced against the bed, waiting for him. 

The sight of her, slick and ready for him, has his pulse quickening and his cock throbbing. Her chest rises and falls with shallow breaths, and if her hooded eyes are any indication, she’s ready for him too. He tears open the condom and rolls it on as quick as he can before he braces himself on the mattress above her.

When he goes to line himself up with her opening, Katara surprises him by taking him in her hand and pressing the tip against her opening. Zuko can feel her hot dampness even through the condom, and he eagerly presses into her. She’s hot and tight, and he groans as he pushes in. Katara’s answering moan tells him that she’s enjoying this as much as he is. Zuko thrusts gently, working slowly into her, and Katara digs her fingers into his shoulders, her breaths coming in short pants. 

And then he’s in all the way, and for a moment both of them lay there, relishing the feeling. He fills her up, and he can tell she likes the way he feels. Then Zuko pulls out until just the tip remains before he pushes back into her. She lets out a sound that has a shiver of pleasure running down his spine and he wants to get her to make that sound again.

Katara eagerly presses her calves against his hips, giving him a better angle, and Zuko holds himself above her on his forearms, his lips trailing nips and kisses along her neck and chest. Katara rakes her hands through his hair as she moans with each thrust before her fingernails claw down his back. Her mouth dances on his shoulder and he feels her teeth grazing his skin as she bites and suckles at him. 

He thrusts harder as tremors of heat travel through his veins. The pressure in his groin is hot and pleasant, and he relishes the feeling of her wrapped tightly around him. He can’t remember a time sex ever felt this good.

Zuko must be doing something right because suddenly Katara throws her head back into the pillows, her mouth open in a perfect O, her eyes closed as her fingers grapple against his back. She bucks her hips and meets him thrust for thrust, and Zuko realizes she must be close to her climax. He bends down and draws one nipple into his mouth, sucking and teasing it with his tongue.

That sends Katara over the edge. She cries out his name as her back arches and her body tenses beneath him, her fingers bruising his shoulders as she rides the wave of her orgasm. The sensation of her warm climax as she cries out his name has him speeding up his staccato beat, thrusting into her as she clenches around him. Sweat drips down his back and he can feel the tension in his biceps, but he doesn’t slow down.

He can’t believe he just made this gorgeous woman scream his name like that, an experience he’s never had, and he vaguely wonders if his neighbors heard it. It makes him want to give her his all.

His fervor earns him a few deep-throated moans from Katara as she melts underneath him, releasing a shaky breath as her orgasm relinquishes its hold on her. Only then does Zuko slow down, drawing his beat to a low tempo as he releases her nipple and presses a kiss to her swollen lips. She’s breathing hard and her skin is damp. The smell of sex envelopes them, making Zuko’s head spin. He knows he’s going to follow her right over the edge, but he wants to enjoy this first.

Her fingers dance across his broad shoulders and down the dip of his spine. He can feel her hips twitching beneath him, and her walls pulse around him. 

When he feels she has sufficiently recovered, Zuko pulls back until he’s looming over her on his knees. He decides to try something Mai never let him do, but he always wanted to try. He grabs her legs and throws her ankles over his shoulders to get a deeper angle, and he can feel the change immediately. And by the sounds Katara is making, she’s enjoying it too. He groans, and he knows it won’t take long for him to finish.

Zuko almost doesn’t want this to end. When they’re done, he thinks of how Katara is going to order herself another Uber, and she’s going to go back to her own apartment and wake up with a hangover and maybe a little regret. She’d told him on the ride over that she _never_ does stuff like this (“My brother tells me I’m a stick in the mud all the time,” she had said while she had her hand up his shirt, and Zuko had marveled at that. How many times had Azula said the same thing?) so Zuko doubts anything more will come of it, and he isn’t quite sure how to tell this gorgeous woman that he would like to see her again. He’s just gotten out of a _nine year_ relationship, for crying out loud. He doesn’t need to get involved with anyone else, at least not while Mai’s clothes still hang in the closet and her toiletries are perched on the bathroom sink.

In fact, Zuko can hardly believe he’s already brought a girl home, and the guilt that washes over him causes his thrusts to falter for a moment. He _knows_ things with Mai have been bad for a long time, but he still thinks he should feel a little worse about the split. But Mai hadn’t even cried. So why should he?

Zuko pushes away all thoughts of his ex-fiancée and Katara going home and redoubles his efforts. He squeezes one of her breasts in his hand, pinching the nipple between his thumb and forefinger as he runs his other hand over the smooth length of her leg. 

Katara looks gorgeous laying there on her back, with her legs against his chest, exposed to him as she watches him thrust into her. Her mouth is open, and tiny moans flow past her lips. 

Her eyes widen. “Oh Zuko,” she manages to say, breathless and reeling. “Spirits, you feel so good. You’re _so_ big and you’re so _good_ —” 

Her words cut off as she tenses up again, another wave of warmth washing over him as he sends her over the edge again. Her moans fill the air and she brings her hands up and runs them down his stomach to his hips, nails grazing his sensitive flesh, and Zuko hisses as the goosebumps break out across his skin at her electric touch. 

That touch, and the sounds she’s making, send him tumbling over the edge right after her. His thrusts become erratic and he shuts his eyes as the pressure crescendos. Katara is still running her hands over the lines of his abs, and gooseflesh crops up in their wake. A wave of heat runs from the crown of his head down to his toes and then it’s over.

Her legs fall to the mattress on either side of him and Zuko leans over her, braced on his forearms so his whole weight isn’t on top of her. He’s certain her pleasure has soaked his sheets. He presses his face into the crook of her neck, inhaling the smell of jasmine and orange. Katara drapes her arms over his shoulders, fingers tracing patterns over his dampened skin. He can feel her heart beating against his chest. 

He pulls back and presses a soft kiss to her lips. It feels more intimate than a one-night stand has any right to, but Zuko can’t help himself. Her mouth is so inviting, and she kisses him back just as gently. _Does she feel the same way?_ he wonders.

She’s gotten under his skin and into his bloodstream, and Zuko fervently hopes she’ll leave her number before she goes.

He realizes he’s still inside of her, and Zuko pulls back. He kneels back on his haunches and takes off the condom before he chucks it into the wastebasket by the bed. 

Katara hasn’t moved. She runs her hand up her stomach to her chest and she lets out a quiet sigh. Her eyes are on him and a little smile is dancing on her lips. Zuko thinks she looks adorable and sleepy and comfortable, and he thinks she doesn’t look like she wants to go anywhere any time soon.

So Zuko lays down beside her on his back, tucking one hand behind his head, not quite touching but close enough to feel the ghost of her body heat beside him. To his surprise, Katara rolls toward him and throws a leg between his, propping her head up on her hand. She traces the trail of hair on his stomach absently before her eyes come up to meet his.

“When I went into that bar, I had no intentions of going home alone tonight,” she murmurs. “I wanted to get drunk and hook up with a guy who didn’t know my name and not care about it tomorrow. But there seems to be a wrench in my plans.”

Zuko's brows knit together. “What wrench is that?”

The corner of her lips tug up in a smile. “You.”

“Me?”

She chuckled. “Yes, you.” Katara presses a kiss to his chest. He can feel her warm cheeks against his skin. “I know I probably shouldn’t, but I want to see you again,” she murmurs into his chest.

His heart skips a beat and he wonders if she can hear it. He wraps his arm around her shoulders. “I want to see you again too,” he says quietly.

She snakes her arm around his waist and squeezes. “Good.”

Zuko kisses her forehead, all too aware that the kiss is even more intimate than the last one. He can’t explain it, but he feels like he shouldn’t let her go. As if she belongs right there with him in a way Mai never did. It’s definitely the strangest feeling he’s ever had, but he’s not adverse to it. In fact, he thinks he could get used to it…

He wonders if Katara will stay. The thought of her leaving fills him with dread. He holds her close as he tries to think of a way to get her to stay. 

But Katara is the first to break the silence. “I don’t want to make any assumptions but…I make a mean waffle.”

Zuko looks down at her, quirking a brow. “Are you saying you want to stay the night?”

She presses her mouth into a thin, embarrassed little line and nods her head. “If-if that’s okay. Like I said, I don’t want to make any assumptions…” 

“I’d like that,” Zuko interjects with a smile. “You make the waffles, and I’ll make the eggs.” His heart beats quick in his chest, but what he doesn’t know is hers is doing the same. He presses a kiss to her temple. 

Katara settles against his chest and lets out a sleepy sigh. “You’ve got a deal.”

He smiles above her head, feeling blissfully tired. “Sleep well, princess.” 

Zuko closes his eyes. He’s never felt so content in his life. He’s not sure what it is about Katara, but she makes him feel whole in a way he never has before. The restlessness that has always been there, just under his skin, is finally gone. 

He’s suddenly glad he didn’t go home alone tonight.


End file.
